From Her Grandmother’s Kitchen to a Legacy of Her Own
What began in her grandmother’s kitchen is now a growing business built on family, service, and a dream for the next generation.
Tuesday, September 29
8:00 a.m.
Spark Thomasville Executive Director
For Sheena, the story of her cooking began long before Sheena’s Shrimp & Grits became a business.
It began in her grandmother’s kitchen.
As a young girl, Sheena spent time with her grandmother learning how to cook. Those moments in the kitchen became more than lessons about food. They became memories, traditions, and the foundation of a gift that Sheena would carry with her into adulthood.
Today, cooking is still deeply personal for her.
It is her therapy. It is her art. And it is one of the ways she
loves to serve others.
“I love cooking, spending time with my family,” Sheena shared. “I love serving individuals.”
That gift has taken her on a journey she never could have fully imagined when she was learning in her grandmother's kitchen.
A Love for Hospitality
Sheena's path to becoming a chef was built one experience at a time.
She began working in restaurants as a dishwasher, eventually moving to the grill and then into serving. With each position, she learned more about food, people, and hospitality.
She discovered that serving others came naturally to her.
In 2025, Sheena attended culinary school and continued developing the skills she had been carrying with her for years. After culinary school, she began working as a private chef.
But eventually, another question began to take shape:
What if she could build something of her own?
Sheena had spent years helping other restaurants and businesses succeed. She realized that if she could help build something for someone else, she could build something for herself, too.
And that's where the vision for Sheena's Shrimp & Grits began to grow.
She's Building It for Her Children
For Sheena, entrepreneurship is about much more than becoming a successful chef.
She's building this for her children.
She wants to create a family business and leave something behind that her children can be proud of.
But perhaps even more importantly, she wants them to watch her pursue a dream and understand that their own dreams are worth pursuing, too.
She hopes her drive will encourage her children to never give up on their dreams.
Every challenge, every long day, every lesson, and every step forward is part of the example she is setting for them.
Her grandmother passed a gift down to her through time spent together in the kitchen.
Now Sheena is working to pass something forward to her children, not just a business, but a mindset.
Dream. Work. Keep going. Don't give up.
Turning a Gift Into a Business
Building a business around a talent you love doesn't mean the journey is easy.
For Sheena, financing, marketing, and building name recognition have been some of her biggest challenges.
But entrepreneurship has also taught her patience.
It has shown her how much she has grown.
She can see the difference between where she started and where she is now, from growing her income to becoming more recognized for her work.
“I can see my growth,” she said. “I'm truly climbing a ladder.”
And she continues to climb because she has a vision for where that ladder can lead.
More Than Shrimp & Grits
Sheena wants her customers to experience more than good food.
She wants them to experience someone who takes pride in what she does.
Someone dependable.
Someone professional.
Someone who treats people with respect.
Someone who is authentically herself.
For Sheena, the food is connected to the service behind it. She wants every person who chooses her business to feel confident that they will be taken care of.
That same heart for service is part of what makes her dream for the future so much bigger.
She envisions a food truck that can take her business from city to city. She sees pop-ups, street events, contracts, and opportunities to travel.
She also wants to explore nonprofit work, including opportunities to serve senior citizens.
She isn't simply dreaming about having a food truck.
She's dreaming about creating a business that can move, serve, provide, and give back.
Spark Helped Her Build Around the Gift
Sheena first heard about Spark through a fellow Spark alum and classmate who encouraged her to take the opportunity.
She came in with the culinary gift.
Spark helped her focus on the business behind that gift.
Through Spark, she has learned the importance of knowing her business inside and out, from financials and business planning to networking, building relationships, and recognizing opportunities.
Her coaches have also become an important part of her journey.
For Sheena, having coaches in her corner means having people who encourage her, push her, provide tools, and remind her that she doesn't have to build alone.
“They keep me grounded,” she shared.
That support has helped her grow not only as an entrepreneur, but as a person.
Now, It's Your Turn to Taste the Story
From her grandmother’s kitchen to the Spark community, Sheena is turning her love for cooking and serving others into a business built for legacy.
Sheena's journey is still unfolding, and the community has an opportunity to be part of it.
On October 2nd, Sheena will be featured at a special Sip & Eat sponsored by her Spark coaches.
This is your chance to do more than read about her story.
Come meet Sheena. Come taste her food. Come support the dream she is building for her children.
Bring your family. Bring a friend. Come hungry.
And when you take that first bite, remember that you're tasting something that started years ago in a grandmother's kitchen and has grown into a dream of its own.
Your plate can be part of her next chapter.
FIRST FRIDAY - October 2 — Sip & Eat
Come support Sheena’s Shrimp & Grits and experience the gift that started in her grandmother’s kitchen.
Location: 1861 Distillery - 314 Smith Ave Thomasville, Ga 31792
Start Time: 6:00 p.m.
Come taste it. Come support it. Come watch her dream grow.
Keep Going
If Sheena could sit down with the woman she was when this journey first began, she knows exactly what she would say:
“Brace yourself. You are about to take off and enjoy the journey.”
From her grandmother's kitchen to culinary school.
From dishwasher to chef.
From cooking as a passion to building a business.
From dreaming for herself to building something for her children.
Sheena is still climbing.
And with every plate she prepares, she is carrying forward a gift that was given to her, and creating a legacy she hopes her children will carry forward one day, too.
Our Contact Information
DeShay Williams, Executive Director, Spark Thomasville
125 North Broad Street, Suite 216, Thomasville, GA 31792
(229) 843-4888 office
(202) 821-9874 cell
Spark Thomasville: Building Community…One Business at a Time.
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